Letters to the Editor Monday

When I was five years of age, my father was a traveling salesman and was away from home five nights a week on business.

My father purchased a .38 caliber automatic pistol for our protection while he was away. It was kept in a drawer in a night stand by my mother’s bed. She could get her hands on the weapon if she should need it.

I was fascinated by the pistol. One day when my father was away and my mother was in the kitchen, I took the gun out of the drawer, and, while playing with it, I tripped the safety, pulled trigger and fired a round into the bedroom wall.

That hole was not patched for a longtime so I would be reminded of what I had done.

When the smoke cleared and my mother was sure we were not hurt, she took the “board of education and applied it to my seat of learning.”

I have not forgotten that lesson. Parents are responsible for their children and firearms should be kept in a locked cabinet until needed. Parents who are knowledgeable can teach their young people the proper use of firearms.

Assault weapons are issued to the armed forces for their intended use. Local law enforcement may have the weapons they need to enforce the law. Strong gun control laws are also needed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and to protect the public.

“Gun Show” merchants should be required to run background checks before their customers can purchase guns of any type. Firing pins can be removed from many weapons used in World War I, World War II, etc., for display purposes and for training ROTC, cadet corps, etc.

I was an enlisted man and an officer in the armed forces, and I still have some knowledge of firearms and how they can be used for protection and for hunting.

Our elected officials should pass strong gun control laws and local law enforcement agencies should enforce them.

JOHN H. ASHLEY

Major, U.S. Army (Retired)

Savannah

Southside resident wants more officers

For three days in a row last week, there were shootings in apartment complexes and in Windsor Forest.

Why would someone shoot people they do not know and for no reason? Where are the police?

More police patrol is needed on the Southside. I have lived on the Southside for more than 25 years and have asked police to patrol more often.

We don’t need an arena. Money should be spent in a better way.

Put cameras all over to catch these offenders. Introduce more police to protect our city.

PAT JOHNSTON

Savannah

What the president hasn’t admitted

The Democrats have succeeded in raising taxes on just the wealthiest Americans, while ignoring federal spending.

The next target, I suppose, will be the military, because progressives seem to believe that the budgetary problems of this nation can be solved by making “the rich pay their fair share” and by reining in spending on the “military industrial complex.”

What if we take that a little further? Let’s quadruple the planned tax increase on the “top 1 percent” to a rate of near 50 percent and gut the Department of Defense. That would, theoretically, increase revenues by about $300 billion a year and decrease spending by $500-600 billion. Ideally, that combination might cut the deficit by up to $1 trillion.

That leaves another $2.8 trillion in total federal spending to be paid by the rest of America (about 42 percent of that through tax on income), but since almost half the population currently pays no income tax, the bulk of that will fall on fewer than 50 million families (you do the math). That’s assuming we stop the insane practice of borrowing to pay our bills.

President Obama and his Democrat colleagues know that we cannot fix the problem by targeting a very small percentage of the population and military spending. He is adamant that we “do not have a spending problem” and has failed to revive the economy.

That leaves taxation of the other 99 percent as the only solution to our fiscal problems. His promise to not raise taxes on middle class Americans is one he cannot possibly keep.

In the debate over raising the debt limit President Obama lectured us that “adults pay their bills.” He seems to have conveniently forgotten the part about adults living within their means and not spending money that they don’t have. I will happily continue doing my part as a responsible adult taxpayer, if he will start doing his as a responsible adult executive. He can begin by getting his first budget in almost four years passed.

DONALD HARPER

Tybee Island

Second Amendment protects free speech

I’ve remained quiet over the last several months with all the letters about guns.

Not to single out anyone in particular, but Allen Williams’ Letter to the Editor (“Love affair with firearms: We need honest talk,” Jan. 25), hit a nerve because he sounds like an intelligent, informed person, who would be open to any gun control laws that come down the line.

He states that “a people received the right to bear arms by a wise and forward-thinking group of Founding Fathers.”

I would argue that the Founding Fathers did nothing more than confirm the God given “rights” that all men had already. There was no question that a man could own a gun, or cannon, for that matter.

The reason for the Bill of Rights, or the first 10 amendments, was that it took the agreement of these conditions by the 13 states. Without these 10 amendments, there would be no Constitution or United States.

The reason for the Second Amendment was to make sure there was no question that the citizens had the ability to defend themselves against a tyrannical government. It was not to give the “right” to hunt.

The Second Amendment was there to protect the First Amendment, which has become a moot point because the mainstream media is now a one-party cheerleading squad.

Keep your powder dry.

PHIL SNIFFEN

Savannah

Walthour Road sorely needs a guardrail

I often say “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” It’s broke.

Walthour Road south of Betz Creek must have guard rails before someone falls into the creek, which at high tide is 10 to 15 feet deep.

Why do we wait until some one is killed before we correct a dangerous situation?

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And we are spent. The number that's bandied about is 16 trillion dollars. That is farcical when you think of what has been 'promised' to future folks here in the Promised Land. That comes to 200 TRILLION plus. Can't anyone in D.C. even spell a-f-f-o-r-d ?

Most individuals at gun shows already undergo a background check, as the dealers at those shows are required by law to do it, no matter where they sell the gun. Tough gun control laws (like those in place in Connecticut at the time of the most recent shootings) have NEVER kept weapons out of the hands of criminals, because they do not obey laws, unlike the rest of us. Additionally, the number of murders committed with "assault weapons" is tiny compared to the number committed with other means. Even if the feds were successful in limiting the access to guns by criminals, they would merely choose a different weapon or make their own zip guns.

It is no accident that almost all the mass murders in the U.S. and Europe over the last 50 years have occurred at places where guns are illegal. The only way to stop an evil and/or crazy person with a gun is with a good person armed appropriately. Since the average response time of the police is 15-20 minutes (an eternity, when someone is on a killing spree), I prefer to have weapons in the hands of those much closer to the scene who are trained to use them.

As for gun legislation, how about the government enforce laws already on the books and stop selling guns to Mexican drug lords? It amazes me that, while the Obama administration is selling sophisticated fighter planes to Middle East countries controlled by Islamists who do not wish us well and semi-automatic weapons to Mexican thugs, they are trying to enact legislation that will really only affect law abiding citizens (since criminals will just ignore the new laws like they do the old ones). This is not about making this country a safer place for Americans; it is about making it a safer place for tyrants.

Gun violence is a symptom, not the disease. The increasing lack of respect for human life IS the disease, and it has a number of causes (just owning a gun is not one of them). Banning guns (or making them harder for good citizens to purchase) is like treating pneumonia with aspirin. Yeah, it may deal with the fever, but it does nothing to fight the bacteria actually causing the fever. More gun legislation is just a "feel-good" reflex action that will have absolutely no impact on violence. And completely banning guns (yes, I know they're not suggesting that YET) is usually when the real violence begins, if history is any indication.